Making the Most Out of Wood Minnesota Materials Exchange Catalog cover, Issue 1 - 2003 If not a bookcase, a birdhouse. If not a birdhouse, mulch. Productive Alternatives makes the most of its wood. This rehabilitation center in Fergus Falls for people with disabilities reuses wood scrap from its furniture making whenever possible. Unusable scrap is picked up by Sylva Corporation in Princeton. This and other wood by-products are processed into various colors and textures of mulch for the landscape nursery industry. The connection between Productive Alternatives and Sylva Corporation—made through the Minnesota Materials Exchange—has allowed 500,000 pounds of wood scrap per year to be reused and kept out of the incinerator. When Steve Lorshbough, production manager at Productive Alternatives, called the county wanting to reduce disposal costs for sending wood scrap to the incinerator, he learned about the Minnesota Materials Exchange. "Larry did an onsite visit to be sure the materials were what he could use," said Steve. "He takes all of the wood now. We've reduced our waste stream so there's been significant savings." After Productive Alternatives accumulates a truckload of unusable wood scrap, Sylva picks it up when one of its trucks is in the area. "We have some customers in the Dakotas," said Larry Doose, president of Sylva Corporation. "When the truck comes back empty from delivering product up there, we arrange to pick up the scrap material from Productive Alternatives." Because Fergus Falls is in route, picking up the material is cost effective. "We heard about the Exchange through a company that we do a lot of business with. It was a great referral," said Larry. "I scan the listings on the Minnesota Materials Exchange online database myself. We've made contacts with pallet recycling companies in the Twin Cities and get quite a lot of material from them as well."